You may be familiar with our weekly moneyline underdog article. Well, we decided a couple of years ago that we needed to show love for the other side by also sharing our two favorite college football favorites that we share weekly on the "Big Bets on Campus" podcast.
We affectionately refer to them as "overdogs," thanks to one of our beloved callers. To keep the chalk talk rolling this season, we're backing two home Power 4 favorites — one in the Big Ten and one in the Big 12.
Let's dive into our Week 4 college football predictions and NCAAF picks for Wisconsin vs. Maryland and Kansas vs. West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Week 4 College Football Predictions
Stuckey: Wisconsin -10 vs. Maryland
| Maryland Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10 -110 | 44 -110o / -110u | +275 |
| Wisconsin Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10 -110 | 44 -110o / -110u | -350 |
I’m going with Wisconsin here. The 10-point spread looks pretty steep, and it might be ugly.
But quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. is expected to play, and this is a revenge game for him against Maryland. He knows that defense inside and out.
Maryland also hasn’t faced any real competition at home.
The Terrapins beat Florida Atlantic to open the season, but the Owls turned the ball over six times. They barely escaped Northern Illinois, and then they played Towson, an FCS team that isn't exactly intimidating.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin is gearing up to face a true freshman quarterback making his first-ever road start.
This is a perfect spot for the Badgers to get back on track.
Their defense has gotten a lot better, and Maryland’s offense hasn’t impressed me one bit. The Terps won’t be able to run effectively, and they’ll make some mistakes.
On the other side, Wisconsin should be able to run the ball to open up the rest of its offense.
With Edwards returning, the defense improving and Maryland's offense looking shaky, I'll lay the points with the Badgers here.
Collin Wilson: Kansas -12.5 vs. West Virginia
| West Virginia Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+12.5 -110 | 54.5 -110o / -110u | +375 |
| Kansas Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-12.5 -110 | 54.5 -110o / -110u | -500 |
Kansas is in a great spot this weekend, coming off a bye week and facing a West Virginia team that was a touchdown underdog but pulled off a win in the Backyard Brawl against Pitt.
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez had a rough start, dropping a game to Ohio, and then basically shrugged it off by saying everything will be fine if they win the Backyard Brawl. Well, they did.
Now, the real question is what they’ll bring to the field against Lance Leipold and Co. after their week off.
On the defensive side, West Virginia isn’t getting much done. The Mountaineers are struggling to generate any kind of pass rush and rank 89th in tackling, per PFF. That’s a major problem against a quarterback like Jalon Daniels, who should have a field day if they can’t get pressure or keep him contained.
If a defense can’t flush Daniels out of the pocket and can’t tackle well in space, it's going to be in serious trouble. West Virginia’s defensive shortcomings make that a problem, so this is a very challenging spot to navigate.
